Page 48 of Hated By the Boss

Tahey's tears were falling nonstop, but this time...

Oh God.

She clutched at her chest. It was hurting more than ever, but the pain...

"We were lucky," Dmitry repeated forcefully. "We had someone to pull us back before any of us could ever cross the line. But your father...he didn’t have anyone. You were too young, and after losing your mother...he made a mistake. A mistake that killed my sister and so many others, but..."

Dmitry waited for Tahey to say something, but all he could hear was her sobs, and he wondered if perhaps...

God.

What if he was the fucking exception, he thought dully, rather than the rule?

What then?

He tried to imagine a life without her—-

God.

And it was just fucking impossible.

Just fucking impossible.

And he could only squeeze his eyes shut at the pain of it.

God.

He hadn't prayed for years, but for his Tahey...

Please God.

Please.

And when he opened his eyes—-

Tahey was kneeling in front of him.

Crying.

And he could only ask in a voice raw with fear and regret-—

"Am I too late, baby?"

Her arms wrapped around him. "Never." Her arms tightened, and it was then he heard God answer his prayer as Tahey choked out, "I love you."

He closed his eyes. Thank you. And then his own arms wrapped around his heaven-sent gift. "I love you, Tahey. I love you. I love you."

Epilogue

IT WAS THE LAST SUNDAY before Christmas, and Tahey had just lied to her husband. She had told him she was flying to Wyoming for a quick visit, but in truth, she had taken a commercial flight to Arizona.

Unlike before, Tahey was now certain of Dmitry's love, so certain that she knew Dmitry would never say a word against her father again, much less keep her from seeing Thomas anytime she wanted.

But all the same, she wanted to cause as little pain to him as possible. She knew, even without him saying a word, that Dmitry - along with Sasha and Drake, too, who used to date their little sister - would always grieve his sister's loss. She knew this because her heart had never healed from losing her own mom.

So even though Dmitry kept telling her he and Thomas - with the help of a grief counselor and an Anglican priest - were making strides on their attempts at forgiveness and reconciliation, Tahey had only nodded but never allowed herself to ask about it.

It was enough, she always told herself, that she had both men back in her life. This alone was more than she had ever hoped for, and to ask for anything else would be the definition of greedy.

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